Women confirm favouritism for sevens crown

RUGBY: Australia's women sevens rugby team flexed its gold medal muscle at a steamy Deodoro Stadium with two runaway wins over Colombia and Fiji to sit on top of the Olympic group.

They could not have been more impressive, scoring nine tries in disposing of the South Americans 53-0 before making a statement with a 36-0 win over a more physical Fiji.

Half-back Charlotte Caslick notched Australia's first hat-trick at Olympic level against Colombia after captain Sharni Williams claimed the honour of crossing for the first Olympic try in the second minute.

She took her Olympic tally to four with a try against Fiji, confirming her reputation as one of the best attacking players in world rugby.

"It's great to get a hat-trick but I think I'm just the lucky one who just has the easy job of finishing,” Queenslander Caslick said of her slice of Olympic history.

"It's nice and hot out here which suits us but the girls played really well and we all know this is just the start.”

Australia lived right up to its gold medal favouritism tag, scoring 89 points while keeping a clean sheet against their opposition..

After beating the USA 12-7, Fiji couldn't handle the speed and power of Australia who had them on the ropes at half-time.

Australia's next opponent in the group stage tomorrow is the USA, which lost to Fiji but beat Colombia easily.

Regardless of the result the Aussies are already qualified for the quarter-finals on Tuesday, allowing coach Tim Walsh the luxury of rotating his players to make sure they are not leg weary in the medal games.